Asia And Europe Markets Fall, Dollar Hits New High - Global Markets Today While US Slept

On Friday, January 10th, U.S. markets ended sharply lower, erasing early-year gains. Stronger-than-expected job data reignited inflation fears and reinforced expectations of cautious Fed rate adjustments. Major indexes closed lower, with small-cap stocks entering correction territory. Treasury yields climbed, consumer sentiment weakened, and energy stocks showed modest gains.

According to economic data, nonfarm payrolls jumped to 256,000 in December, well above forecasts, while the unemployment rate dropped to 4.1%. Average hourly earnings grew 0.3% monthly, in line with expectations but slower than November’s pace, with annual wage growth at 3.9%, just below predictions.

The S&P 500 sectors mostly ended lower, led by declines in real estate, financial, and information technology stocks, while energy stocks stood out, finishing the session with gains.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.63% and closed at 41,938.45, the S&P 500 closed lower by 1.54% at 5,827.00, and the Nasdaq Composite slid 1.63% to finish at 19,161.63.

Asia Markets Today

• Japan markets closed for Respect for the Aged Day holiday.
• On Monday, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 1.23%, ending the session at 8,191.90, led by losses in the IT, Financials, and Consumer Discretionary sectors.
• India’s Nifty 50 closed lower by 1.38% at 23,431.50, and the Nifty 500 slid 2.55%, closing at 21,243.45. The losses in the Real Estate, Power, and Consumer Durables sectors led to the declines.
• China’s Shanghai Composite was down 0.24% and closed at 3,160.76, and the Shenzhen CSI 300 declined 0.27%, finishing the day at 3,722.51.
• Hong Kong’s Hang Seng closed the session lower by 1.00% at 18,874.14.

Eurozone at 06:00 AM ET

• The European STOXX 50 was down 0.90%.
• Germany’s DAX declined 0.66%.
• France’s CAC fell 0.74%.
• U.K.’s FTSE index 100 traded lower by 0.25%.
• European stocks opened the week lower as global economic concerns and potential Fed rate hikes weighed on sentiment.

Commodities at 06:00 AM ET

• Crude Oil WTI was trading higher by 1.40% at $76.83/bbl, and Brent was up 1.48% at $80.95/bbl.
• Crude oil prices surged, driven by U.S. sanctions on Russian oil exports. These measures are expected to disrupt supply, tighten global markets, and push India and China to source oil from other regions, supporting higher prices.
• Natural Gas gained 4.09% to $4.152.
• Gold was trading lower by 0.35% at $2,705.81, Silver was down 1.36% to $30.887, and Copper rose 0.01% to $4.3045.

U.S. Futures at 06:00 AM ET

Dow futures were down 0.30%, S&P 500 futures fell 0.75% and Nasdaq 100 futures declined 1.17%.

Forex at 06:00 AM ET

• The U.S. Dollar Index was up 0.31% to 109.99, USD/JPY fell 0.28% to 157.32, and USD/AUD gained 0.02% to 1.6268.
• The dollar surged to multi-year highs, fueled by strong U.S. jobs data that dampened expectations for Federal Reserve rate cuts.

Photo by Pavel Bobrovskiy via Shutterstock